Metroid: Decay
by Moiderah
Summary: Samus investigates a distress beacon from the R. Franklin. A re-imagining of Other M.
1. Samus Enters

[-MISSION FILE 03790-]

In a cold, desolate corner of space, an enormous ship seemed to float among a cloud of debris. It was dead place, in the middle of an asteroid cloud, close to three gas giants.

On its side was the insignia of Earth's Galactic Federation, and underneath was its name, surrounded by shattered windows.

**[R. FRANKLIN]**

And right above it, there was the shadow of a much, _much _smaller ship. The Federation ship drifted aimlessly, larger than a city, before the tiny orange craft hovered above its entrance. It paused, as a light scan covered its entry port. After several seconds of scanning, it turned around to a safe distance, and pounded the entrance with a barrage of missiles.

The doors were blown apart, metal shards flying into space before the ship _barged _its way inside. It scraped against the walls of the inner tunnels, screaming through with a light orange glow before it reached a larger area. It scanned against the new entry port, and just as it did, there was a low_hiss. _Suddenly, the doors started to open, and the ship flew inside.

It hovered above the cold metal surface, artificial gravity taking hold as air rushed inside. There was a loud _clang _as the three supports kept the ship upright, with the suspension making sure it was level.

And then, with that, the top of the ship opened, and a human, clad in orange, heavy armor, rose out of the ship's top.

"...Mission begin." She said calmly, before she did a soaring double leap off of the top of her ship. Her feet _slammed _into the steel, with her armor causing a slight indent in the flooring. She adjusted her ship's defense systems, adjusted her helmet, and walked forwards. "Currently in main hangar." She said to her recording equipment. "...No life in sight."

She walked, and as she did, she saw bodies, many, _many _bodies. "Fifteen bodies in main hangar. All human, deceased since fifteen to twenty hours ago." She kept moving. "Survivors unlikely."


	2. Sector 1

**[SECTOR ONE]**

Samus stared into the desolate ship, and walked through the hangar. She entered a security checkpoint...and as soon as she did, she noticed a rather grisly sight.

The person here was torn apart. His torso was torn open, exposing his ribcage and innards, while his arms and legs were held on by mere threads. Bits of his head were hidden beneath a nearby console, his teeth were scattered across the floor, and she could feel his right hand underneath one of her boots. She moved her leg, and picked it up, putting it on a nearby table. "...creature tore him apart." She said, before she scanned the remains. "Died of head trauma, before being torn apart post-mortem." She said. "His death came quickly."

She scanned it once, and her suit went to work, burning through its code as though it were nothing. She smiled a little inside of her suit, as she was able to figure out what happened.

[Last Known Log]

A face appeared on the screen in front of her. It looked panicked, covered in sweat as the screams of people were heard behind a closed door. The man, presumably the one that was spread throughout the checkpoint, was panicked, panting at the screen.

_"Something _is here!" He shouted. "Something's here and it _wants us dead!"_There was a _bang _from inside the doorway. A scream was suddenly stopped. "It's _here! _None of us can stop it! _Nothing can stop it!" _Another bang. Another scream was gone. "O-Oh god..." Tears started streaming down his face. "T-the distress signal's done nothing!" He said. "W-we're stuck with lightspeed-based...!" There was a third, final _bang, _and bits of steel were sent flying. He turned to face whatever was there...

[VIDEO INPUT 1 LOST]

And static. The video was cut off there. Whatever happened destroyed the camera. "...Creature is unknown. Possibly a space pirate of some sort." She frowned. "...Omega, maybe." She grumbled at the thought. "Though how they would manage that without Phazon is a mystery for another day."

[=]

She walked through the hallways, frowning as she did. She looked...before she noticed something on the ground...a Galactic Federation chestplate.

She picked it up, noticing that it was covered in blood. She scanned it once, before she dropped it upon the ground... "07 Platoon." She murmured. "...It's like a ghost from the past." She stared at the plate for an extra second, before her eyes widened. Without a second thought, she turned as quickly as she could, ice beam ready. She didn't say a single word as she held her cannon up, scanning around as she quietly stalked the halls.

She shifted her visors, between the thermal visor and finally the x-ray visor, before she realized that indeed, somebody was close by.

A bipedal.

"I know you're there." Samus said, sternly. "I am not above using force to draw you out."

"What, so you can get one of your fed _fuckheads _to get me, too?!" The voice shouted. It was a woman's voice, young, high-pitched.

"I am not affiliated with the federation. I have worked with them in the past, but I am independent."

"Yeah, _bullshit!" _She said.

"I will have you know that despite my past cooperation, my connection with the Federation is tenuous at best." Samus frowned behind her visor. "But what I _am _noting is that-" She started to walk forwards. Her each and every step had a loud _thud _against the ground. Her armor made a slight whir as the pieces shifted against each other. "-you are a survivor among a team. Is anyone left?"

"How the fuck should _I _know?!" The person said. "I-I'm just-!"

Suddenly, Samus' fingers _clanged _against the wall. The person froze as soon as she heard the sound, before Samus' glowing visor slowly rounded the corner. A green light flooded the room, and the person, cowering in a corner, just stared at the enormous, walking suit. "You're affiliated with the federation." Samus said, as her visor scanned her quickly. There wasn't a sign of any kind of radiation sickness. No sign that the air here was unhealthy. Despite the damage, the air conditioning was still fully intact.

"W-_what are you!?" _The woman screamed. "Y-you-!"

"My name is Samus Aran." She looked down. "...And I'm honestly surprised. Most who are in the federation know my name."

"What, are you _that self-!"_

"It's just an observation, ma'am." Samus said, before she tapped something on her helmet, before moving to her chestpiece. She let out a relaxed breath, as her uniform dissolved, and she stepped forwards. Even without the suit, she was imposing; her steps still made a loud _thud_against the ground, and she towered above the poor woman. Her hair, reaching down past her waist, was tied into a perfect ponytail, and her arms were toned and thick. She was _built, _with thick muscle and definition, courtesy of her many years of service. "...I am not that selfish. I have just been at my job for a rather lengthy amount of time."

The woman stared at her, before she just gulped. "...W-what the..."

"Chozo technology." Samus said, before she tapped her suit again. It covered her quickly. "But that's beside the point. I'm putting you in my gunship."

"What? Why?"

"Simple. I want to ensure as little loss of life as possible." Samus said. "You're going into my ship. If something goes wrong, you can set it to return to Earth."

She stared at Samus, before she frowned and shook her head. "No. Nonono-"

"This is non-negotiable."

"Well, _how about this!" _She said. "I-I could just be one of a _few! _What if a friend of mine survived?"

"Unless you can grab some armor, that's incredibly ill-advised." Samus said. "...Though there should be a suiting station nearby. If you are so insistent as to follow me, I guess I cannot stop you without using force." She turned.

"Uh...wait, what? I thought that was non-negotiable."

"Well, I use that term as a form of intimidation. It obviously didn't work against you." Samus said.

"G-good, then." The woman said. "Uh...wait, you're really not going to stop me?" Despite her moment of bravado, Samus could tell that she was still terrified out of her wits.

"Why would I? I could potentially become a fugitive if I harm a Federation employee." Samus said. "...When on Federation property...and if said employee was important."

"...What?"

"I'd rather not take that chance."

_"...What?!"_

"Let's just keep moving."

"...Uh...so you're...uh..."

"A bounty hunter." Samus finished the woman's question. "If you are wondering, yes, I do kill and capture other sentient beings for monetary gain. No, I don't have a problem with it." Samus turned her head back to face the poor guard.

"I was gonna ask if you were 'independent', not if you had no problems with shooting and killing things."

"Well, yes to the first, no to the second." Samus said, quickly. "Now...let's ask about you." She said. "How long have you been a security guard on this vessel, Mrs. Sullivan?"

The woman stared. "How did you-"

"My visor scanned your personal computer." Samus said, and the woman immediately looked at the small device that was hooked to her belt. "Though the fact that you're a guard that isn't completely familiar with the GF here tells me you weren't supposed to be here for too long."

The woman took a breath. "...I started shift here three weeks ago. I was supposed to get off three months from now."

"Wrong time, wrong place." Samus said. "...You're lucky. Most of the time, when I run into ships like these, the crew is either dead, missing, or spread around the cabin."

The woman gulped. "And...uh...how many ships?"

"One in orbit around Zebes, one pirate station orbiting Tallon IV, one station on Aether, one surrounded by a cloud of Metroids, which have since been extinguished..." Samus sighed. "One close to the fringes of the Sol system, attacked by a particular ambitious pirate group. Also near-destroyed. I managed to destroy the pirates' ship, but had to land on Earth to recover. That's the most recent incident."

"Uh...oh." Sullivan nodded. "...Oh! Is that a suiting station?"

Samus turned her head. "Oh, so you can read." She said.

She looked offended. "No need to be snarky."

"I wasn't being snarky." Samus said.

_"...What."_

"But that does seem to be a suiting station." Samus adjusted her visor, and the woman just looked offended. She scanned the opening lock, and without hesitation, the thing popped open. She slid the door,and as soon as it she did, the room inside lit up with a flicker.

"Five bodies." Samus said. "...There were a lot of humans on this ship."

"I don't even know what they were doing." Sullivan said. "...But...uh..."

"Here." Samus cut her off, and held up a chestpiece. "This is one of the more advanced suits. I hacked it so that it could be worn by you."

"...huh?"

"I linked your Personal Computer to the suit here, so that when you place it on your chest, will fit your size perfectly, fitting you like a glove. It will transform seamlessly over your body, thanks to the digital link, and will be made for your specifications perfectly. It will take approximately 2.502 seconds for the transformation to be complete, and will also allow you access to a piece of weapon-"

"Okay, okay, _okay!"_ Sullivan said, before she yanked the chestpiece out of Samus' left hand. "I don't need that bullshithogwash nonsense."

"It doesn't hurt to explain its function and process."

"Yes it does. It hurts my soul."

Samus looked confused. "The metaphysical human soul doesn't exist-"

"You get what I meant."

"No, I really don't."

The woman just glared back at Samus. "...You really don't understand how this 'proper human interaction' thing works, do you?"

"It involves words and talking."

"...That's about the extent of your knowledge, am I right?"

"It also involves frivolous social cues."

"...Yeah, that's really the extent of your knowledge."

"I have interacted with other people many times."

"Yeah okay whatever you say."

[=]

Several minutes later, the pair was back to the hallway. The guard had herself a plasma rifle, and Samus cradled her gun close by, always on the ready, with her plasma beam on. As a bonus, it lit the room up in front of them with a slight orange glow. "There should be a door close by." Samus said. "Fifteen meters."

The woman nodded, before she quietly took out a small key, before Samus interrupted the thought with a blast of her power beam. The field over the door faded away, and the door itself quickly slid open. Samus stepped through, followed closely by the woman, before they both heard an echoing tap.

"...did you hear that?" Sullivan asked. Her voice wavered a little, and her legs started to shake. She held her gun to her chest, while Samus silently nodded.

"I did." Samus said, before she switched her cannon's modes. First wave, then ice, then plasma. She adjusted her sights to X-Ray, before she paused. "...Get down."

"Wha-" She didn't have to to react as Samus _shoved _her down, before a large creature, much bigger than the both of them combined, _slammed _a claw into Samus. She took the hit without hesitation, but quickly noticed that a full energy tank had been used by the impact.

Whatever it was, it hit with the force of a _truck_, and sent her hurtling across the ground. Sullivan stood up, dazed, before she quickly pulled up her gun and started firing at the creature's back.

Samus was quickly pinned down by the monster, and she immediately caught a glimpse of it in the dim light. Its abdomen was thick, armored and heavy, with hairs lined up upon its back. Its front two legs had only one claw each on their ends, and its single back leg bent unnaturally, making sure that its movement was kept light and fast. Its front end was covered entirely with sharp, uneven teeth, all around a circular mouth, with its blink, yellow eyes lining the "neck" as though they were blisters. Samus raised her cannon, aiming right for its "Blind spot" in the center of the mouth, before it roared, revealing a larger, human-like eye. Samus's eyes widened, before she shoved her grapple beam right into its pupil.

The creature _screamed _in newfound agony, before Samus yanked its eye out of its mouth, The thing hung on a stalk, stretching horribly as Samus_stomped _on it. The creature quickly _yanked _its eye back, pulling the thing back into its mouth, before it quickly turned its head to look over at Samus. The eyes glared at her, glowing a blank yellow, before it turned its third leg, right in the center of its rear, towards her in an attempted swipe.

Samus dodged it, the claw scraping against her suit before she quickly fired a missile at its hide. It was deflected, _exploding _against a nearby doorway with a shower of debris. The creature turned towards Samus again, the hairs on its back standing on edge as it let out another scream.

She charged towards it, grapple beam ready again, before she fired at the teeth with a charged plasma shot. The creature howled in pain, absent-mindedly opening its mouth, before she grabbed it with her grapple and_pulled_. The central eye was pulled out again, but this time, Samus had already charged her plasma beam.

With bright flash of red light, the entire room grew several degrees hotter. The creature's eye was blown open, and the brain underneath was cooked to a fine crisp. The creature let out a dying cry, before its functions ceased, and it slumped onto the ground, dead.

Samus panted, her cannon still smoking from the shot. She checked her missile count, before she grimaced. "...Two-fifty left." She said. "If I keep making shots like that, I could run out of missiles very quickly."

"What the _fuck_." Sullivan stared at Samus, then at the creature lying dead on the ground. "...What the _fuck-"_

"I believe that this is the creature that killed your teammates." Samus said. "...Though it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep exploring the facility."

"It just kept _killing _people, and you just...!" The woman shook her head. "...Jesus."

"I did say that I have been doing my job for a good number of years." Samus said. "Let's keep exploring the facility. Again, we should be able to find some more people...and maybe more monsters."

"What, you're saying that there's _more?!"_

"I'd rather not take chances, ma'am."

[=]

In a distant part of the ship, an officer in a Galactic Federation uniform stared at his screen. He kept tapping it fruitlessly, trying to get something out of it, while another man was sorting through the nearby wires. "I can't get _shit _outta this. Lightspeed comms are dead for good, sir."

"That's the end of that." The man murmured. "...Do we have any access to outside of this room? Communications-wise, that is."

"As far as we're concerned? We're trapped in the middle of black nothingness." The other man said.

The officer frowned, as a woman beside him lit up a cigarette. "So...how long 'til we die?"

"We aren't going to die, Nova." The man said.

"Kinda hard to say otherwise." Another man said, towering above the group at seven feet. "We have about a month's worth of rations. If nothing gets through that door-"

"Don't say 'if'." The officer said. "Nothing will get through that door."

"Dude, you got the team optimist to say we're all gonna die." The man stopped fiddling with the wires. "...At least we can have a fun last few weeks. Who wants to play Monopoly?"

[=]

A/N: Nobody wants to play Monopoly. Monopoly is _shit_. Everything is shit. Video games are shit. I fucking hate video games.


End file.
